To All New 40-Year-Olds: Why Age Has Nothing to Do With Your Style

I’ll say it: Style. It has NOTHING to do with your age.

I’ve been pondering age again recently, probably because I’m approaching my 41st birthday (next month). The other day I had an irrational moment when I thought “Oh my god it feels like my 40th was only a couple of months ago – where has the time gone? I’m getting OLLLD“. Irrational, at best; ridiculous, at worst. Pointless? Undoubtedly.

I swear my age is accelerating faster than Newton’s second law of motion. But really, WHY am I worrying about my age? It is just a number, after all.

I SWEAR MY AGE IS ACCELERATING FASTER THAN NEWTON’S SECOND LAW OF MOTION. BUT REALLY, WHY AM I WORRYING ABOUT MY AGE? IT IS JUST A NUMBER, AFTER ALL.

One thing that many women fret about to do with ageing is what to wear. If you’ve been reading my blog for a while you will know from past musings that I have a thing about the expression “age appropriate dressing”. [She quells the overwhelming urge to grind her teeth and frown because she knows it’ll only make the scowl lines between her eyebrows worse.]

Mutton dressed as lamb

There just seems to be something about the age of 40, more than any other milestone birthday, that sends women everywhere into a major panic. They worry about how society will perceive them if they dress a certain way or continue to wear certain types of clothing, for fear of being called mutton dressed as lamb.

My advice? Don’t fret about dressing your age, especially if you’re about to reach your 40th birthday: You won’t change dramatically overnight. THERE’S NO SUCH THING as a set of rules for dressing your age.

DON’T FRET ABOUT DRESSING YOUR AGE, ESPECIALLY IF YOU’RE ABOUT TO REACH YOUR 40TH BIRTHDAY: YOU WON’T CHANGE DRAMATICALLY OVERNIGHT. THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS A SET OF RULES FOR DRESSING YOUR AGE.

No matter how old or young you are, whether you’re 20, 40 or 90, you only have to remember this:

1. Wear what you like
2. Wear what suits you
3. Wear what’s appropriate to the occasion

Follow these three guidelines and you will feel confident.

If you feel confident you will feel happy.

If you feel happy you will look radiant.

If you look radiant you will brighten up everyone’s day.

If you’re brightening up everyone’s day you, in turn, will feel great about yourself.

What’s not to love about that?

The important things in your life (as far as everyone else is concerned)

I went to see a show recently – a well-known British illusionist/hypnotist – who spoke at the beginning of the show about human behaviour, and how important things in your life are of quite little significance to other people.

So in other words, fretting about turning 40 might be a huge deal to you – but everyone else (and I mean this in the nicest possible way) simply couldn’t care less. To them, you are absolutely no different being 40 years and 1 day than you were when you were 39 years and 364 days.

YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY NO DIFFERENT BEING 40 YEARS AND 1 DAY THAN YOU WERE WHEN YOU WERE 39 YEARS AND 364 DAYS.

What will make a difference, however, is attitude – the confident/happy/radiant theory above. I read a great quote recently (I can’t find who said it unfortunately): rather trying to look 20 when you’re 40, simply look great at 40 and make the 20-year-olds long to look that good when they’re your age.

So surely it’s better to look your age but at the same time look amazing – no-one else cares what age you are.

Remember, they’re all too worried about their own next birthday milestone to care a jot about yours.

P.S. WANTING TO READ MORE LIKE THIS? CHECK OUT ALL MY ARTICLES ON THE THEME OF FASHION AND STYLE!